Financial markets aspire to efficient resource allocation through self-correction mechanisms. Yet, Professor Dong Lou’s research reveals a more nuanced reality: investor behavioral biases and market frictions dynamically disrupt this ideal. These forces create predictable deviations from market efficiency, leading to asset mispricing and exploitable opportunities while exposing hidden vulnerabilities across global financial systems. 

Prof. Lou is an internationally renowned scholar in asset pricing, known for his influential research on asset price dynamics, investor behavior, and arbitrage mechanisms. Widely published in leading academic journals and the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, he has made seminal contributions across interconnected domains, such as the development of the Comomentum measure, which exposes and quantifies how arbitrage activity can destabilize prices rather than correct them; decoding how behavioral distortions create predictable price pressures; and empirically demonstrating how agency conflicts propagate inefficiencies etc. By revealing the interplay of hidden forces through rigorous, data-driven research essential for solving complex global challenges, Professor Lou’s work transforms abstract market theories into actionable insights for investors, policymakers, and institutions navigating real-world complexities. 

Prof. Lou’s research leadership extends to his editorial services at top finance journals. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Management Science. He is the Founding Director of the HKUST Institute for Financial Research, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), a Senior Fellow at the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER), and an Academic Visitor and Consultant to the Bank of England. He has also been awarded the Distinguished Young Scholars Grant by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). 

Prof. Lou received his B.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University in 2004 and his Ph.D. in Finance from Yale University in 2009. He began his academic career at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he rose to be a full Professor in 2022. Since joining HKUST, Prof. Lou has been a respected leader at the University. He currently serves as Head of the Department of Finance and Associate Dean (Strategic Planning and Research) at the School of Business and Management. In these roles, he has led key initiatives to strengthen faculty recruitment, promote interdisciplinary research, and deepen engagement with industry. His leadership as Co-Director of the HKUST-DXM AI for Finance Joint Laboratory further reflects his commitment to advancing technological innovation and fostering academia-industry collaboration. 

HKUST is pleased to award Professor Dong Lou as the Citi Professor of Business in recognition of his leadership in transforming rigorous insights into practical strategies for market resilience while fostering cross-sector collaboration.